


The Family You Choose

by aquantumkitten



Category: The OA (TV)
Genre: BBA is a mother figure to Steve, But still loving, DysFUNctional families, F/M, Family Feels, Found Family, Steve is BBA's replacement for Theo, The OA - Freeform, but in a good way, misfits - Freeform, more about the personal lives of OA characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27999660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquantumkitten/pseuds/aquantumkitten
Summary: After Betty Broderick-Allen rescues Steve from boot camp, he needs a place to live. Though he's troubled and aggressive, BBA still holds a special place in her heart for him, and she offers him a new home and a new family.
Relationships: Angie/Steve Winchell, Betty BBA Broderick-Allen & Steve Winchell, Jesse Mills & Steve Winchell
Kudos: 5





	The Family You Choose

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends!
> 
> I just finished The OA season 1, and it was amazing. Anyway, I found myself wondering where Steve was going to live if his parents kicked him out and he didn't go to Asheville...and it just seemed so natural for him to move in with BBA, so I wrote a story about how that would happen. It takes place between the end of episode 7 and the beginning of episode 8. I just love how "Team OA" becomes a family throughout season 1, and I wanted to show even more of that here. Enjoy!
> 
> Content warnings for swearing and brief references to physical aggression and drugs (all in-canon).

It’s midnight, and the dark presses in heavily around the sleepy Michigan neighborhood like a blanket, only broken by a few weakly flickering house-lights.

Steve and Betty Broderick-Allen—though she’s taken to calling herself BBA, like the boys do—stand facing the front door of Steve’s house. He’s pushed it just a little open, like when they’re meeting with OA. 

Steve turns to BBA. “You realize what we’re doing is totally illegal, right?”

“I know. But…we have to help you get out of here, and, well, I can’t really see another way…”

“Robbing my own house with my algebra teacher…” Steve shakes his head. “Shit’s fucked up.”

BBA nods. That’s true, and though she had always been the kind of teacher to get invested in the lives of her students, she would never have dreamed of doing something like this. But since she rescued Steve from the Asheville guards, illegal hasn’t seemed like such a terrible thing.

BBA and Steve turn to face each other and break out into matching grins. When Steve smiles a little askance, like he’s done something mischievous and he’s letting her, and only her, in on the joke, she can’t help but think of her brother Theo. Steve even looks like him.

“Let’s do this.”

****

Two nights before, Betty had done something she never thought herself capable of: she’d staged a dramatic rescue. Looking back on it, she knew that the fuss she’d made about the guys molesting Steve was utterly unconvincing. Plans had a way of working better in one’s head than in real life. But the real flash of brilliance had been the $50,000 bill. It came to her suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, like a premonition. Like someone else was guiding her—or maybe someone inside Betty that she hadn’t known was there before.

Maybe it was her invisible self.

She remembered OA had told her the bill was a piece of Theo. And she’d exchanged it for this lost boy who looked so much like a young Theo…perhaps another piece of Theo. She wasn’t sure. She didn’t even think about whether the exchange was “worth it.” She just did it. And the relief she felt when she got him back was palpable, a dark cloud seeping out of her pores and into the air, releasing her.

She and Steve were silent for nearly an hour on the drive back. 

Finally, BBA broke the silence. “So…where should I drop you off when we get back? Obviously, your parents’ place isn’t an option anymore….”

Steve stared ahead at the black road, his eyes steely. “Dunno. Abandoned house, probably.”

“You need a better place than that.”

“Yeah, no shit, but I’m not getting one, okay?” BBA heard the heat and the pain in his voice, but she could withstand it.

“Don’t worry, Steve, we’ll figure something out,” she said with as much authority as she could muster. If Steve was even listening, he didn’t react. 

“It’s…it’s our last night with OA tonight, Steve,” said BBA.

“Fucking OA,” Steve spat. “You know she’s just using us, right? You, me, Buck and French and Jesse…just using us like all the rest of them. And you know? I’m sick of it. I’m sick of getting fucked over by every single fucking person—”

“Steve, please, stop—”

“—except you,” he said, swallowing his anger for just a moment. “You’re pretty cool, BBA. So, umm…thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Steve held on to his rage a few minutes longer, until they came to the house, until they saw OA again. And then he took it out on her.

If it had been up to Betty’s judgment, she might have kicked him out of their group then and there. She loved OA and nobody messed with the people BBA loved. But OA forgave Steve. And BBA had forgiven Steve for punching Miles in the throat when OA told her to, so if OA forgave him again now, she would, too.

When they finally heard the end of the story, they forgot their struggles and conflicts. Together, the Five knew what they had to do.

One by one, they left: OA, Buck, French, Jesse. Only Steve stayed behind.

“Where are you going, Steve?” BBA asked.

“I’m gonna crash here.”

“Steve, if you need a place, I’ve got a spare room, I’ve got—”

Steve shook his head morosely. “I need a night to figure my head out, okay? I need to be alone.”

“Right,” BBA said. She tried to keep her voice from cracking. “Well, good night.”

Steve didn’t say anything, only nodded.

****

“Yo, man, Steve,” said Jesse as he ran up to Steve in the halls of their high school. “You aren’t looking too sharp. What happened?”

“Didn’t sleep.”

“Why not?”

Steve shrugged.

“It’s not something about what OA said, is it?”

“Nah, though that was all pretty crazy. . I…I crashed at the abandoned house.”

“What the…”

“My parents tried to send me to Asheville, okay? They think I’m down there getting beat up and reformed or whatever the hell. I can’t come back home.”

“Oh. Well, uh, maybe you can crash at my place tonight? I think Allie would be chill with it.”

“Really?” said Steve, wheeling around to face Jesse. “That would be…fucking amazing. Thank you.” He hugged Jesse tight. A few other kids stared and snickered. Steve didn’t even care. He was just so overwhelmed with all these feelings, these warm feelings he normally didn’t get, until he met OA at least. Gratitude.

****

Steve spent his lunch hour that day with Jesse, Buck, and French, furiously searching the web for everything OA had said. He almost forgot about Angie.

She sneaked up behind him after lunch on their way back to alternative school.

“Where the hell were you? I thought you and me sat together.”

“Yeah, we do, but…there’s just something bigger going on. Like…you know that woman we hang out with sometimes at the house I used to deal at…”

“Michigan miracle girl? Yeah. What about it?”

“Well, she’s…she’s in trouble. It’s hard to explain, kind of crazy actually, but she’s in trouble and we’re all trying to check out her story and see if…well, if what she’s saying is true…and if we can help.”

“Like what kind of trouble?”

“Like some FBI-level shit.”

Angie smiled. “Cool. Hey, you look super tired.”

“Yeah, didn’t sleep last night.”

“Why not?”

“Got kidnapped.”

“No fucking way.”

“Yes fucking way. I’ll explain after school.”

“Nuh-uh. I’ve gotta hear it now.”

So Steve did explain it, though he left out the part about punching Miles in the throat, because he wasn’t sure Angie could hear that and still like him, and he wanted, and needed, so badly for somebody to love and respect him like Angie did. Angie was pretty sympathetic, thankfully. “Your parents sound fucked up,” she said, laughing bitterly. Steve agreed.

“Hey, well, you could always, you know, crash at my place.” She glanced at him slyly.

“I kind of already promised Jesse and I don’t want him to freak out if I don’t show…”

Angie smirked. “Wow. Only guy I’ve met who wouldn’t jump on that chance. Jesse’s your buddy?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

“Cool. And, honestly, I dunno, my parents would probably freak if I had a boy over. They’re like super old fashioned and shit. But they don’t even notice what I get up to. Which is pretty nice.” 

“Mine are always breathing down my neck.”

“Parents, man. They suck.”

“Except for the ones you choose.”

“How do you mean?” asked Angie.

“Like…I dunno, there’s people in your life where it’s like, you go through something messed up together and you’re always there for each other, and you, like, trust each other with your lives and you suddenly realize, like…wow. This is my real family. Because you choose each other. You know?”

Angie tossed her head back and laughed. “You’re spending too much time with the hippy blind girl and you’re sounding like Thoreau or some shit. Get over yourself.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it? Like, you and me, we chose each other, and—”

Steve didn’t have time to even finish his sentence before Angie pulled him close and kissed him, hard. “You’re crazy. But I like you.” 

****

Jesse opened his front door and Steve walked in.

“Hey Allie,” he said. “So, Steve’s crashing with us tonight. Parents kicked him out. Long story. You cool with that?”

Allie looked over the top of the couch, briefly turning away from the TV screen where her favorite show, Stranger Things, was playing. “Whatever. Guest bedroom’s upstairs and to the right.” Steve plopped down on the couch next to her. Allie scooted to the other side of the couch. She’d never liked him much. Jesse sat down between them and they kept the peace for the rest of the episode.

“So, what’s going on here?” asked Steve.

“Well, I’m high half the time I’m watching, so I couldn’t really tell you,” said Jesse. “But it’s about these nerdy kids and a secret government experiment and a little girl with, like, super powers and some monsters…”

“So basically us and OA, but, like, made up.”

“Well, made up in this dimension, anyway,” mused Jesse.

“Who’s OA?” interrupted Allie. “She’s that big blind creep, right?”

“She’s not blind anymore,” said Steve and Jesse, almost in unison.

“Right,” said Allie, flicking her hand. “Whatever. Could you like try not to talk too loud while I’m watching this thing?”

Steve got up to go to the bathroom. The house was completely empty except for Allie and Jesse. He saw a few photos of a woman with the two kids, but she was nowhere to be seen. He vaguely remembered that Jesse had mentioned something a while ago about his mom committing suicide, but he hadn’t wanted to talk about it. No wonder Jesse was always numbing out.

Shitty parents, messed up parents, parents who didn’t get it, no parents. They all had issues with their parents. Maybe that was why they all needed each other.  
But it was too much to think about. So Steve went up to Jesse’s guest room early that night and crashed hard and went to school the next morning like nothing had even happened.

****  
Steve ran into BBA in the hall on his way out from school the next day.

“Hi, Steve,” she said. “So, I just wanted to check in with you…make sure you’ve got a place to stay…”

“I crashed at Jesse’s last night.”

“Oh. I see. Well, anyway, I was thinking, you know, I live alone and I have a spare room, and if you wanted somewhere at least semi-permanent, for the next month or so anyway, where you could, I don’t know, live with a grown-up, if that was something you’d be interested in…maybe you could move in with me?”

Steve hesitated for a moment.

“That would actually be…great,” he said. It made perfect sense. He wasn’t sure how well Allie would take to him staying night after night. And BBA was probably the best adult Steve had ever had in his life.

“There would be rules, of course,” said BBA. “Like, you can’t deal drugs. You can’t commit any disciplinary infractions while you’re at school. You need to at least get through your online lessons—you don’t have to get straight A’s, but I’d at least like to see you try. Do you…do you think you could do all that for me?”

“Dunno,” Steve shrugged. “Guess I could give it a shot for a week or so.”

BBA gave him a watery smile. 

“So,” said Steve, clapping his hands together. “Plans. I wanna get all my stuff out of my parents’ place first.”

“You don’t think they’d notice?”

“Nah. They aren’t gonna be up checking that room for a while.”

“So…then I suppose you’ll have to get back into the house.”

“I’ve got a key. They didn’t take that away from me at least.”

“Do you want to move in tonight?”

“Yeah!”

“So…that means we’ll want to stop by your parents’ house late tonight and take what we need.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. BBA. Are you telling me to rob my own house?”

“Well, that was what you suggested, Steve,” she says with affected innocence. “I’m just here to help out.”

“For real?”

BBA flashed him her best mischievous Theo grin. Theo used to get into all kinds of hijinks like this when he was young and Steve brought back all the memories for her.

“Give me a call and I’ll pick you up tonight.”

****

So BBA and Steve slip up the stairs quietly, their arms full of empty boxes. Steve flicks on the light in his room. BBA and Steve tiptoe around the room, as BBA haphazardly throws clothing into boxes and Steve picks a few items with particular significance to him (though he won’t ever admit to being sentimental about objects), and hauls his weights around with what he hopes is not too much noise. Together they slip down the stairs again at 1:07 a.m, and Steve’s parents are still asleep. Maybe they’ll see things missing from his room and call the police later, but for now, it’s sweet victory with no consequences. Steve and BBA high-five.

Steve hauls the boxes into BBA’s bare little guest room. The bed is perfectly made, the sheets stretched tight like a hotel’s sheets, awaiting the arrival of a guest that, until now, never came. Steve is dead tired and immediately yanks the blankets out from their neat folding under the bed, settles himself in, and crashes out.

BBA stops at the doorway and looks in before she goes to bed herself. When he’s asleep, he looks a little like Theo. She wipes a tear from her eye and she isn’t sure why.

In the morning, she can hear one of Theo’s old metal records blaring as Steve unpacks.

Steve knows his life is fucked up right now, and he’s worried about OA and also wondering whether she really is the real deal or just crazy. A lot is uncertain.

But he’s got a home, with the family he’s chosen.

And he’s grateful for that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Did you appreciate the Stranger Things reference? In S1:E3, Allie is watching Stranger Things. The show has a number of plot/concept similarities to The OA (I've never seen it though). 
> 
> I'm hoping to write more OA fanfic soon!


End file.
